


Boring Life Of a Cafe Worker

by Daeyujaem



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:33:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29012847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daeyujaem/pseuds/Daeyujaem
Summary: Shit, he knew I liked him. And that I was gay. My face was as red as the strawberry juice on the counter between us. "032-521-2000" I blurt, before I can think of what I'm doing.Out of the corner of my eye I see Chan's eyebrow raise. "What?" Jisung looked confused"That's my number." I play it off, honestly, I should be an actor "032-521-2000." I tilt my head for extra affect, I was probably overdoing it, but oh well "Do you want me to write it down so you can remember it?"He smirks at me "Just put it in my phone, dummy. This isn't the 20th century."I definitely thought we'd get along well.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	1. Hyunjin-Ice Americano

I was so in love.

Honestly, I had known him, for what, 5 seconds?

He hadn't even ordered yet, my palms sweated as he approached the register. "Hello." I give him a small smile, dipping my head down in a sign of greeting "Welcome to CafeJeu, what can i get you on this fine day?"

I somehow managed not to stutter, but I could feel Minho's eyes boring into my soul. I never said that when I greeted people. But I had a feeling he had never been here before, and wouldn't know the difference. He looked into my eyes, and I realised that his eyes weren't the dark brown of most asians. They were lighter, almost an amber sort of colour. His hair was sun bleached as well, surprisingly, as it was Janurary. "Um...Cheesecake and Ice Americano...As well as a Strawberry Juice and Vanilla Cake slice, please." He reached for something in his pocket.

"To go or for here?" I asked, putting in the order.

"To go."

"Name?" I anticipated this. It had to be beautiful, for someone with such a handsome face. Hopefully he was single.

"Jisung." He handed me his card. 

My hand brushed his as I took it, and my heart went into overdrive. I needed to figure out a way to get his number, or give him mine. Quickly, too.

"Alright, total is 15.58. Your order will be ready in a moment." I smile at him, wider this time, and sadly watched him walk away.

The next customer was someone I was familiar with. "Hyung." I greeted Chan.

We lived together, with Minho as well, and we shared practically everything because 3 college students aren't exactly that rich. We all worked at the cafe, shared one car, one bathroom, one kitchen. Thankfully, we had separate rooms. We had lived with another guy, Woojin, but that was mainly because he and Chan were dating. No surprise, they broke up. Woojin was pretty toxic, and Minho and I saw how it was affecting Chan. Eventually, Chan got the confidence to break up with him. I had to see him sometimes, we were both in school to be cardiothoracic surgeons. Thankfully Chan was a medicince malpractice major, aka he was gonna be a lawyer for people with problems with doctors or stuff. Minho was the chef in our little gay family. He was a food major.

So we _would_ be rich.

Just not right now.

Minho was supposed to be graduated, but he took a free year to travel and spend time with his family in Korea. Chan has two more years in school, he'd graduate 2022. Me? I had...a lot of time left. I'd probably graduate from school 2027, but I still had to do a 5 year residency, and then a 2-3 year specifying as a heart surgeon. It was a lot of work, with all the studying I had to do, as well as care for my self and have a job. So I really didn't have time for a boyfriend, and living with two guys kinda made me wonder if I was straight, but it didn't mean I didn't have feelings for people. I was human.

"Ya!! Jin, pay attention to me! I want my food!" Chan waved his hand in front of my face.

I snapped out of my little love-induced recap. "Give me my cookies!!! And my coffee!" His face was like three inches away from mine.

"Personal space, sir." I put my hand gently on his face and pushed it away "Hello, welcome to CafeJeu, what can I get for you?"

"2 chocolate chip cookies, two Iced Americanos, please."

"Two?" I questioned as I put in his order "It's not good to drink both."

"How do you know its not for someone else?"

"You've been complaining all week how you had a test the first week back from break and how you hadn't studied and you should study. It's Sunday, school starts tomorrow."

I turned away from him and pulled out three clear cups that we used for Iced Americanos. I poured the cooled coffee solution we had for such purposes. I poured syrup in as well then put ice, filling it with water. I pulled out the already prepared strawberries in syrup, and started making Jisung's other drink. "I saw you eyeing the customer before me." Chan says it in Korean, so it was more private.

"아니!" I protest "No!"

"Sure."

I pulled out the cakes for Jisung and started bagging his stuff. "Jisung?" I call.

His name is really nice.

He looks up from his phone in the corner he was standing in. He has a small smile on his face and my heart flutters. He phone flashes towards me when he puts his hand down, and I somehow manage to catch a glimpse of someone pretty on it.

Female.

Fuck, he's straight. "Thank you." he smiles at me, and it takes me a couple of seconds to realise he said it in Korean.

Shit, he knew I liked him. And that I was gay. My face was as red as the strawberry juice on the counter between us. "032-521-2000" I blurt, before I can think of what I'm doing.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Chan's eyebrow raise. "What?" Jisung looked confused

"That's my number." I play it off, honestly, I should be an actor "032-521-2000." I tilt my head for extra affect, I was probably overdoing it, but oh well "Do you want me to write it down so you can remember it?"

He smirks at me "Just put it in my phone, dummy. This isn't the 20th century."

I definitely thought we'd get along well.

\------------------------------

**(private chat)032-514-2000, Jinnnnnnnnnieeeeee**

032-514-2000: Hey, this is Jisung

 **032-514-2000** changed their name to **Sungie**

Jinnnnnnnnnieeeeee: Hey!

 **Jinnnnnnnnnieeeeee** changed their name to **Jin**

Jin: Sorry if I came off as...weird, earlier?

Jin: Most people in America don't speak Korean even if they are Korean

Sungie: No its fine

Sungie: I thought you had a bit of a accent, so I guess I know why now

Sungie: How long have you lived here?

Jin: Two years

Jin: I came here for college

Sungie: Really? And you chose to go to Chicago?

Jin: Well...It was either that or LA

Jin: And I think it worked out well...I met Channie-hyung, Minho-hyung, and now you :D

Sungie: Who was the one who said you liked me?

Jin:...Channie-hyung

Jin: Speaking of which, brb 

Jin: Imma kill him real quick

Sungie: No!!

Sungie: Don't kill him!!

Jin: I won't

Jin: Maybe

Jin: >:D

Sungie:...

Sungie: I'll buy you dinner if you leave him alone

Jin: Depends on when that dinner is

Sungie: Today?

Sungie: Red Tongue, 6pm

Jin: I will send you a photo of the hostage to prove he is still alive

Jin:

Sungie: Good...

Sungie: Now let him sleep

Jin: He's supposed to be studying tho...

Sungie: Let him sleep

I put the phone down, a smile on my face, but my nerves on fire. We were gonna eat????? WHAT WAS I GONNA WEAR??? The red tongue wasn't necessarily a _fancy_ restaurant, but it sold meat, so to me, it was fancy. With a little help from Minho, I ended up in a white shirt that was a little loose, the bottom tucked into black jeans and a black belt. I had a gold necklace as well, and my hair smoothed down. I was still a nervous mess half an hour later when I stood outside of the restaurant. Minho had walked with me, just to make sure I was safe. He was literally two years older than me. Two.

"Go, go, gogogogogogo."" I pushed Minho away when I spotted Jisung

"Aaaa, waaeee???? Whyyy???" He genuinely looked sad

"I don't want you third wheeling. Now go. Love you, bye." I smiled at him and walked toward Jisung. 

"Hey." He greets me, and smiles.

"Hi." I smile back

\-------------------------------

"Tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell meeeeeeeeeee." Chan whined as I walked away from him.

Both he and Minho wanted to know how my date went, and what happened.

Of course, I wasn't going to tell them.

"Nooooooo." I mocked his tone "Get an A on your quiz tomorrow and we'll see."

"And what about me?" Minho asked 

"Um....I dunno cook tteokbokki without it tasting like coins."

"THAT WAS ONE TIME!!"

"And have you made it since them?"  
  


"No..." Minho looked away

"Exactly. Imma shower now, so let me be."

The date was horrible. Well, really I was horrible. The amount of stuttering I did was just aaaaaahhh. Agrrivating. I also held the knife in the wring hand whhen I cut the steak. I also said cock instead of cook when I was talking about Minho. I also almost spilled water on myself. I tripped when I walked in. I couldn't stop staring at Jisung and I probably made him uncomfortable. So much so that he left. "I'm so sorry, but I gotta go." 

I definitely fucked it up.

But I couldn't worry about it, because I had school tomorrow. And to get by during the day, I needed to sleep. And I couldn't sleep if I was overthinking the date.

But aaaaaaaah did I really have to say that????


	2. Jisung- Cheesecake

Felix was seriously going to kill me.

I did have a job, you know. I can't just leave in the middle of the shift to go get you a drink and cake. I mean, I did, but that's beside the point. The nearest cafe was like a half hour walk from my job which wasn't fun in Janurary in Chicago. If I had frostbite, Felix was paying the medical bill. I'd make him fix it himself, since he is studying ER medicine, but he still had 4 years until he graduated. He wasn't even in his residency yet, so he'd probably butcher my body. 

Not that he'd mind.

I met Felix at our college. He walked up to me when I was walking to the dorms (that was back when I still lived in one) and said "You're hot, wanna go on a date?"

Honestly, most confident bi man I've met in my life.

"What if I'm not gay?" I had responded, putting my key into my door.

"I bet I could make you." He smiled at me, flashing his dimples.

I looked him up and down and said "Nah, I'm good, thanks." And then I proceeded to close the door in his face.

Most people would've given up, but not Felix. I had to deal with him for a whole year before he got the fact that I was straight. But at that pont, I was so used to him, we just decided to move in together. I mean, not that simply, but basically. We had been living together for two years. He was still in college, but I dropped out to pursue my career of the very reliable thing called making music. Of course, we needed a source of income so I worked at restaurant, aka Red Tongue. It payed well, about $15 an hour, give or take. And the restaurant was open majority of the day, so I took a lot of shifts. Felix worked at a cafe part time, in fact the one I was walking into right now.

"Hello." The cashier greets me, dipping his head down "Welcome to CafeJeu, what can I get you on this fine day?"

He was pretty, sharp jawline, and his hair was at his shoulders, dyed a honey blonde. It didn't fit most people, but it fit him.

I tried to recall what Felix wanted "Um...Cheesecake and Ice Americano...As well as a Strawberry Juice and Vanilla Cake slice, please." I reach for my card

"To go or for here?" He asks, putting in the order.

"To go."

"Name?"

"Jisung." I hand him my card. 

"Alright, total is 15.58. Your order will be ready in a moment." He smiles at me again, handing back my card, and I go to stand in a corner.

"Hyung." I hear the cafe worker say, and I turn around, but notice he's speaking to someone else.

Embarrassing.... Why must everything be about me in my life? If I was in a book, I wouldn't be the main character, I'd probably be the side character that no one ever remember the name of. No one important....I could make a song about that.

I text Felix once I get out of the way

**(private chat) Lix, Sungie**

Sungie: Hey you wanted strawberry juice and vanilla cake right?

Lix: I wanted Strawberry cake :(

Sungie: Well...

Sungie: You got vanilla cake

Lix: :(

Sungie: Stop pouting, its not that deep

Sungie: Cut up Strawberries or something and put them on there

Lix: Thats so much workkkkkkkkk

I smiled slightly, when something caught my attention. Korean.

"I saw you eyeing the customer before me." The guy at the counter says

"아니!" The worker protests "No!"

"Sure." The counter-guy is sure he's right, and he's smirking.

The worker busies himself bagging my stuff.

**(private chat) Lix, Sungie**

Sungie: The cafe worker is gay

Lix: okay????

Sungie:...Aren't you single

Lix: Is he cute?

Sungie: I dunno am I gay?

Lix: 🙄

Lix: You can't appreciate beauty when you see it?

"Jisung?" The worker calls me, and I turn off my phone as I walk towards him, still smiling.

"Thank you." I say it in Korean, to let him know I heard him.

It takes him a second before he realises I said it in Korean, and his face is red when he does realise.

"032-521-2000" he says, randomly

"What?" 

"That's my number. 032-521-2000." He tilts his head for extra effect, looking 'adorable' as Felix would've called it "Do you want me to write it down so you can remember it?"

I smirk at him "Just put it in my phone, dummy. This isn't the 20th century."

He smiles and I hold out my phone.

Felix is laying on the couch in just his boxers, showing off how well defined his body is for someone so thin looking. Or maybe he's still tryna make me gay. "Put some fucking clothes on otherwise I'm eating your cake."

Felix sits up, startled. "When did you get here?" He says, making no move to go put on his clothes. He knows I won't make good on my threat.

"Literally two seconds ago. What were you even doing?" I sit the bag down on the table.

"Um...Gay things."

I roll my eyes and take out my cheesecake. "You're bi."

"I can still do gay things!" he grabs his juice and stabs the straw through the top, drinking from it "But I can also do straight things. That's the advantage of being bi, which you would _know_ if you just agreed to go on a date with me!!"

I smile at him "Not gonna happen Lixie."

"Fine" He eats some of his cake "At least go on a date with that cafe worker."

I almost choke on my drink "What??? I don't even know him?"

"You don't know anyone you date." He looks somewhere on the table and I realise a second to late what he's looking at.

He gently pushes me out of the way (I say gently, but for Lix, it's like someone else shoving pretty hard) and grabs my phone, running into the bathroom and locking the door before I can stop him. "WAIT YOU ACTUALLY HAVE HIS NUMBER???" Lix shouts from the bathroom "DAMN I GUESS I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS YOU'RE HOT!!!"

I wonder what he's gonna say as I eat the last of my cheesecake. "빨리와!" I call "Hurry up! I gotta go back to work"

"One minute!!" Felix responds

\------------------------------

My shift at the Red Tounge ended at 6, basically right when Felix told Hyunjin we should meet up. I walked out the back, like I normally do, forgetting that I had an arranged date with him. I walked down a few more buildings before walking up to the sidewalk. There was someone else standing with him, and I recognised him as Minho. Felix had been flirting with him for a period of time, before Minho said he was into to someone else. They were still friends, but I wasn't really friends with him. So we made eye contact and that was it before cafe worker- sorry, Hyunjin, pushed him away.

He was walking towards me, and he had one of those smiles that you don't even need to see his mouth to know he was smiling. I mean I couldn't see his mouth cuz you know..pandemic..yayyyyyy.

"Hey." I greet him, smiling.

I might as well be nice to him.

"Hi."

"Let's go inside, it's freezing out here." I hold open the door for him

"Thank you." he ducks inside

"Yo, Jisung! Back already?" My coworker, Jake call my name.

I ignore him. "You were here earlier?" Hyunjin asks

"I work here." I shrug "My shift just ended."

"Oh...You coulda come out the front door."

"Not supposed to." I say "Bad work ethic, or something."

I turn around quickly and see he looks embarrassed for some reason. Did I say something weird? "We can sit wherever." I tell him.

He chooses a table by the entrance, at the window. We spent like... 2 minutes looking at the menu.. no conversation. It was so awkward but I was pretty sure Hyunjin was just dying over there behind his menu. "Who was with you earlier?" I ask "You can't be cheating on me already, we haven't even properly met!"

Hyunjin looked up, a small smile on his face. That was my friend, Minho. He's my roommate who also works at the cafe with me, but is in school to be a cock." His face went _red_ "I- I mean a cook...sorry."

The waiter came over at that time."What can I get for you?"

I nod at Hyunjin, signaling for him to go first. "Um, can I get steak and fries? Cooked well done, please."

"I'm have the shrimp garlic salad thingy."

Heather, the waitress rolled her eyes. "You don't even know the name?"

"I do. I just don't care." I smile at her, waiting until she walks away before asking another question "So what are in school for?"

"Oh...me? I'm going to be a cardiovascular surgeon."

"Damn." He had high hopes. "That's a lot. I don't think I could be in school that long."

Hyunjin smiled "Worth it to be rich." He looked up from his drink. "What are you doing with your life?"

"I want to be a producer."

He didn't have the reaction most people had, the disapproval. The 'you wont make it'. The telling me the odds of success, of me actually making it.

"Woah! That's so cool." His eyes were alive, it seemed like "I love music so much...I wrote songs when I was younger" He smiled

He...actually cared?

We talked about music for a while, even while we ate. Hyunjin was pretty knowledgeable, for someone who only wrote lyrics. I was having a great time. Until I got a call.

'Felix' the number read.

"Hello?" I answered

"Ji...Help? Please?" Felix's voice was small

"Shit." I muttered "I'll be there in a sec okay?"

I stood up, tucking the phone into my back pocket. "I'm so sorry, but I have to go." I turn to where Jake is standing "Ya! Put the meal on my card!"

Felix had schizophrenia. He wasn't one of people who got like.. murderous or whatever. He saw things, and most of the time the things would hurt him, or at least scare the shit of them. He usually was able to ignore them, or deal with them himself, but sometimes he'd have to call me, and I'd do whatever he needed.

"Where?" I ask, running to him."

Felix was fixed on a spot on the ceiling. "Its on the ceiling?"

Felix doesn't say anything, so I block his view of the ceiling. "Lix? Answer me so I can help please."

After what seems like ages, Felix's eyes are focused on my face. "He's got a gun. He says it's all my fault."

"Lix. They aren't real. They can't hurt you."

"But he can! He says its my fault. Ji, stop him." He looked on the verge of tears "Stop him or he's gonna get you too."

"He's not gonna get either of us. Where is he?" I get up of the couch, ready to... fake kill this guy or something

"Right behind you."

Felix's lips don't move, and when I turn around, I see a complete stranger standing behind me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its a floater  
> im sorry thats not funny akasjhlka

**Author's Note:**

> someone murder me this is the first 'not straight' fanfic i've ever written and i'm not even part of the alphabet mafia (aka what my friends and i call lgtbq+) so like oop-  
> also we stan a nervous hyunjin king <3


End file.
